Why does Fidelity say I have cash but won't let me buy a CD

[jazz4cash]

I find it just the opposite. I think you can do more things via the website without having to call. I think it’s pretty robust.

Exactly. I can see how it might be intimidating if you don’t take the time to explore. The website is most frequently cited as a plus for Fido.

 

[jazz4cash]

Yes, I'm entering it correctly. I've bought several CDs in the past, so I'm familiar with the process. (I do understand the quirk of that section too. It would be easy to type too many zeros if you aren't paying attention).

When you select a CD and hit the buy button all your accounts should be listed. It will show you ‘cash available’ but you may need to select the account first. How does your cash available compare to the figure shown if you select the ‘positions’ tab?

Edit: Just to see, I chose an account with <1k available and entered a qty of 1 bond. It shows the order value ($1000) so I hit ‘preview order’. The next screen displays insufficient cash error message and a breakdown of order value, cash available, and cash committed to open orders. That should make it easy to figure out the issue unless it’s buggy software.

 

[easysurfer]

What does it say if you click the ‘activity’ tab?

Shows activities and orders.

 

[COcheesehead]

Shows activities and orders.

…and there is your answer to why cash is added to your core.

 

[easysurfer]

…and there is your answer to why cash is added to your core.

I think the default dividends were initially directed there instead of reinvested.

 

[COcheesehead]

I think the default dividends were initially directed there instead of reinvested.

Go under account features and you can select how to handle dividends.

 

[youbet]

No idea what happened at Fidelity but at Schwab I discovered that my "cash" wasn't good enough. Wrong MMF. It had to be in the settlement fund that paid peanuts. To make things worse, their dumb systems let the $78K buy transaction go through. Then they sent me all kinds of frantic warnings that I needed to fund the purchase. Scared the hell out of me while I was in Italy biking.

Was this in a margin account?

 

[Texas Proud]

Thanks for the tip. Now I have a bread crumb to work with.

Actually, in my case by clicking the box to show settlement account transactions, hopefully I can see what cash deposits going into the cores are coming from where. At first glance seems like dividends are getting put in core. I'll have to look closer when I have the time.

That might be one thing... I was trying to move money into the MM and could not... found out that the divi was a security that I had said to reinvest so I could not use it somewhere else...


I have never had a problem though with buying s stock or bond with no money in my sweep account and then selling the MM to cover it..

 

[easysurfer]

Go under account features and you can select how to handle dividends.

Think I set it properly now. Fingers crossed .

 

[LakeRat1]

I find the website to be simple to buy CDs and do it quite often ...... If you have an issue, call them, they are very friendly and eager to help you understand

 

[PointBreeze]

Funny, that’s the reason I left two other firms and consolidated to Fidelity. It’s the most logical and straightforward to me vs. others I’ve used.

+1

 

[flatrock]

I use the SPAXX mm as the core and as the CDs in my ladder mature they are automatically swept into that account. Then I rinse/repeat buy new CDs…I don’t use the auto-roll function. Like to research the health of the bank a bit. So far so good no problems.

 

[PointBreeze]

I stuck with Fidelity all these years because I have found their website so straightforward and comprehensive that I very rarely need to call.

+1


I've only called once. I accidentally entered a extra account to my BillPay area, and there is no way to remove one once added. You have to call.

 

[RPHDOC1]

fidelity

It’s easy to buy fixed income at Fidelity. The OP has an issue that is likely a simple answer.

You have to do it from the main website not the app.

 

[COcheesehead]

You have to do it from the main website not the app.

That’s not true. There is an entire section on the app devoted to CDs.

 

[RoyDornoch]

I also had trouble determining the amount of available cash and was told by the Fidelity rep to go to Cash Management under Accounts and Trade and it'll list available cash for all your accounts. The problem with the other areas of the site are that it doesn't show settled debits and credits in showing balances.

I have both Fidelity and Vanguard and Vanguard seems to offer slightly better rates.

 

[COcheesehead]

I also had trouble determining the amount of available cash and was told by the Fidelity rep to go to Cash Management under Accounts and Trade and it'll list available cash for all your accounts. The problem with the other areas of the site are that it doesn't show settled debits and credits in showing balances.

I have both Fidelity and Vanguard and Vanguard seems to offer slightly better rates.

There is also a tab called balances and it will show the cash balance of all your accounts. Another quick trick and just initiate a buy order and it will show you settled cash. You can click out of the order without further action,

 

[hotwired]

Where is your cash?

Just a shot in the dark, but there's only one place you can have your cash where it will be available for trade. For example it's easy to think that any money market is cash for the purpose of investable assets, but other than their default sweep money market, everything else is considered a mutual fund, so for example if you put all of your cash in a different money market that's not their default, they would consider that an investment position (vs available investable cash) so you have to cash out of that before you can buy anything else. Again a shot in the dark and I may be completely off base but I've had this happen before.

 

[gauss]

I have been struggling the last week after depositing checks to FIDO and then trying to buy USTreasuries. 2 places that revealed info on my problem were:
#1) The Balances Tab (under the Portfolio section) shows my cash available to trade is not what I needed

#2) The More-->Manage Cash --> Upcoming Activity (assuming the correct account is highlighted on the left hand side). This shows the date that funds on my deposited check would be available -- and it was on the order of an 8 day delay.

It seems that at Vanguard they used to let you do trades in a non-margin account and you would have until the settlement date to actually fund the trade. Perhaps Fidelity has stricter rules to minimize "violations" by customers. On the other hand maybe it was that my Vanguard accounts were structured differently ie. containing investments that could be sold/settle quickly (ie their own MF's) to cover the trades if needed.

-gauss

 

[COcheesehead]

Just a shot in the dark, but there's only one place you can have your cash where it will be available for trade. For example it's easy to think that any money market is cash for the purpose of investable assets, but other than their default sweep money market, everything else is considered a mutual fund, so for example if you put all of your cash in a different money market that's not their default, they would consider that an investment position (vs available investable cash) so you have to cash out of that before you can buy anything else. Again a shot in the dark and I may be completely off base but I've had this happen before.

If it’s in a Fidelity money market, which as you say is a considered a fund, it is the first default aside from core for funding purchases

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

It would be nice if the OP would report back after contacting Fidelity and share the answer as to his/her issue.

 

[ChrisC]

Just a shot in the dark, but there's only one place you can have your cash where it will be available for trade. For example it's easy to think that any money market is cash for the purpose of investable assets, but other than their default sweep money market, everything else is considered a mutual fund, so for example if you put all of your cash in a different money market that's not their default, they would consider that an investment position (vs available investable cash) so you have to cash out of that before you can buy anything else. Again a shot in the dark and I may be completely off base but I've had this happen before.

I don't think that's true based on my limited, recent experience with a Fidelity brokerage account I funded several weeks ago. I funded the account with a wire into the account from a bank account. The cash was parked in the default core position, SPAXX, for this taxable brokerage account, which by the way is the same core position for my Roth IRA with Fidelity, but different from the core position for my Fidelity HSA, which is FDRXX.

For my taxable brokerage account which had all my cash in the core holding of SPAXX, I moved all of the cash into FMPXX, which showed up as available cash in that account. FMPXX, which required a minimum buy of $1 million was yielding around 35 basis more than SPAXX. A month later I purchased T-bills from this account, and FMPXX funds were immediately available as cash for this purchase; several weeks later I purchased VTI and likewise funds from FMPXX were immediately available for this purchase.

Unlike my experience at Wells Fargo Advisors (Well Trade Account), where a high yield money market fund, like WMPXX, is treated like a mutual fund and not available cash and you have to sell funds in WMPXX and reduce it to cash before trading into another position replacing those funds, Fidelity appears to treat its money market funds as cash to be used immediately for trades or other transfers.

Moreover, funds in my core position in my HSA, FDRXX, are now being partially liquidated on a monthly basis to pay for my LTCi premiums through ACH transfers. And I have used those funds to reimburse myself for prior, eligible HSA medical expenses!

I could be wrong about this because my experience is very limited and new.

In general, this explains the core position at Fidelity.
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/investment-products/mutual-funds/core-position-video

 

[Tracer]

I never had much trouble navigating Fidelity's website. When I got stuck or had a question I just called. Their customer service is excellent. They'll get to the bottom of the problem. I can't believe they will leave you hanging without an answer. Just call.

 

[audreyh1]

Just a shot in the dark, but there's only one place you can have your cash where it will be available for trade. For example it's easy to think that any money market is cash for the purpose of investable assets, but other than their default sweep money market, everything else is considered a mutual fund, so for example if you put all of your cash in a different money market that's not their default, they would consider that an investment position (vs available investable cash) so you have to cash out of that before you can buy anything else. Again a shot in the dark and I may be completely off base but I've had this happen before.

Not true at Fido. Any MM fund in your account can be used to fund a trade and is automatically drawn on as needed. You are not limited to your core account/default sweep. It’s a major convenience at Fidelity. I take advantage of it all the time.

 

[mak99]

I don't think that's true based on my limited, recent experience with a Fidelity brokerage account I funded several weeks ago. I funded the account with a wire into the account from a bank account. The cash was parked in the default core position, SPAXX, for this taxable brokerage account, which by the way is the same core position for my Roth IRA with Fidelity, but different from the core position for my Fidelity HSA, which is FDRXX.

...

^^ my exact experience as well with Fidelity for a few years now, with SPAXX and FDRXX (HSA only) and their decent yield these days. I have yet to buy any CDs like the OP so I cannot confirm any issues like they were experiencing. But I have been buying some short-term Treasuries for maybe six months now and have not had any issues purchasing in any of my Fido accounts (taxable, Rollover, Roth and HSA). For my IRAs which have limited-margin trading I make sure to click the CASH button when buying Treasuries (not sure if it would deny the purchase if I selected the MARGIN button).


Side note on SPAXX and its yield: I regularly sell cash-covered puts (weekly expirations) in my IRAs and wasn't sure if the cash that was "locked up" to cover an assignment still earned the yield. I called Fido to ask this specific question, and after a brief hold while they did research, they confirmed that the entire SPAXX balance earned the yield. So I thought that was a nice "win-win" for this scenario as I try to put the idle cash to a bit more use.



Side note #2: I agree that Fido has great customer phone support, and encourage anyone to call without hesitation. I only call when I cannot figure something out or have a question that I cannot find the answer from the website. 90% of the time I stump the CSR as they initially cannot answer my question so I'll be put on hold while they research it or contact higher-up CSRs.


Side note #3: Not sure how long I've been a member here (at least June 2022) but this is my first post!